SOAR CHAPTER! MAY/JUNE 2021 - United Steelworkers
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
SOAR CHAPTER! MAY/JUNE 2021 ! PAGE 1
SOAR CHAPTER! MAY/JUNE 2021
A Defining Moment
In 1935, President Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act (SSA), which significantly reduced
poverty among disabled Americans and nearly eradicated it among senior citizens for
generations to come. Nearly 90 years later, the SSA is arguably the most popular legislative
accomplishment in American history.
At the time, the SSA was a trailblazing effort because it completely changed the realities of
work in America. Americans could actually retire, and those who were unable to work because
of a workplace injury or disability became eligible for unemployment and health insurance.
Today, America again faces a unique generational crisis where the population of seniors will double by 2050,
while the number of people older than 85 will almost triple. Retired Americans are at a particular risk because,
unlike most industrialized nations, the United States does not provide a publicly-funded long-term-care benefit
for older adults.
The changing nature of our society, whereby most families cannot survive on just one income, has made it
largely unsustainable for working-age Americans to take care of their elders as they have in previous
generations. Additionally, the median salary for home-care workers is approximately $17,200 per year, making it
extremely difficult for the profession to attract a well-trained and sustainable workforce.
Many experts fear that failing to address this collision of factors “threatens to strain an already limited
workforce of caregivers; complicate the retirements of millions of people; and force many children, particularly
daughters, out of the labor market to care for their parents.” (washingtonpost.com, 4/2/21)
President Biden has proposed that the American Jobs Plan should include a $400 billion investment in home- or
community-based care for the elderly and people with disabilities. This would nearly double what is spent
annually on home care for vulnerable populations, which would help expand access to more Americans, raise
the wages of caregivers, and potentially drive down costs as a result of increased competition.
Our union strongly supports the President’s proposed investments in home- and community-based care, and
other efforts to adequately meet the care needs of retirees and Americans with disabilities.
The goal of ensuring retirement security has broad support across our union. In fact, a survey that was circulated
in 2019/2020 found that retirement security ranked among the top three most important concerns of USW
members and retirees, with 86 percent of respondents saying it was “very important.” Healthcare came in 1st in
with 87 percent, and workers’ rights was 3rd with 81 percent.
When our nation faced the generational crisis of the 1920’s and 30’s, we didn’t choose to abandon our fellow
Americans who were most vulnerable. Rather, we created Social Security. We face a similar crossroads
today, and we must not be afraid to act boldly.
Julie Stein, SOAR Director
! PAGE 2
SOAR CHAPTER! MAY/JUNE 2021
Changes in Leadership Provide Opportunities to Build Lines of Communication and to Grow SOAR
Recent USW local union election results show a number of new officers have been elected to lead
their locals. Also, due to incumbents deciding to retire, there will be at least two new District Directors
and a National Director of Canada after the International Officer elections are held this fall. These
changes provide obstacles as well as opportunities for SOAR.
After being in isolation due to COVID-19, we in SOAR are just beginning to hold in-person meetings
and reorganize our chapters. The time is now to reach out to your local union leadership to develop or
reacquaint a working relationship with them. We must take this opportunity to explain the three-fold
purpose of SOAR. We must also explain how the locals can help build our membership by making
sure they are aware of the USW resolution passed to pay the first-year membership in SOAR for all
retirees. As union members get closer to retirement (age 45 or older), we can encourage them, including
spouses, to join our SOAR chapters, as well.
To further strengthen the relationship between the chapters and their locals, SOAR leaders and members can attend their
local union meetings, when possible, and make sure the membership knows that we stand ready to help them when
needed. Whether through Rapid Response, volunteering with the Community Service Committee or assuring the local
union that we are anxious to help them if they need turnout for rallies and manning of the picket lines during negotiations.
There are many ways for chapter members to be involved and stay connected to the union.
Further, to establish a good line of communication between the SOAR chapters and their locals, the local unions are
encouraged to select a representative to serve in an advisory capacity to the SOAR chapter. And, SOAR chapters are
encouraged to select a designee to serve in an advisory capacity to the local union.
We also need better communication among ourselves. District SOAR board members should develop a system of regular
contact with their chapter presidents (leaders) and coordinators. If you don’t have a coordinator in your sub-district or
area and are interested in serving as one, talk to your SOAR District Board Member. (Directors appoint coordinators in
their respective districts. Board members will notify them of any potential new coordinators for their consideration.)
Finally, SOAR board members should develop a relationship with their new director and establish a plan to get active in
their districts. There are many opportunities for SOAR to become involved at the district level. Still, if we are not aware of
any organizing drives, strikes, rallies or demonstrations, we cannot participate. That’s why a good communication is
needed between SOAR and our union leadership throughout.
We in SOAR need to take advantage of the resources provided by our districts and local unions so that we may
continue the fight to improve the lives of workers and retirees TOGETHER.
Bill Pienta, SOAR President
Where’s the Money Going?
It’s clear that there is no way for our country to get back on track
until the virus is under control. The American Rescue Plan directly
confronts the COVID-19 pandemic, making our country safer and
healthier. This includes facilitating further testing, contact tracing
and personal protective equipment, as well as vaccine procurement,
supplies and distribution and more. Get more FACTS on the
American Rescue Plan here: http://usw.to/rescue
! PAGE 3
SOAR CHAPTER! MAY/JUNE 2021
SOAR Chapter Light at the End of the Tunnel or Just a Mirage
Connection
A bi-monthly publication
of SOAR
Julie Stein, Content Editor
Alysse Rico and Eric Russell,
Copy Editors
Phone: 866-208-4420
Email: jstein@usw.org
Address editorial material to:
SOAR
60 Blvd of the Allies
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
Ole Charlie Sez:
Is the pandemic really coming to an end, or not? I hear conflicting
reports. I don’t even think my idol, Dr. Fauchi, can answer that
question with a simple “yes” or “no.” Cases are down which is
fantastic. And mask wearing and social distancing policies have been
revised, and even lifted. That’s good too. But, about the mask
wearing...to mask or not to mask, that is the question. Even though I
have been vaccinated, where can I go maskless? The grocery store?
What about restaurants? How about church? Such a dilemma. I play it
safe and always have my homemade mask dangling from my wrist,
Articles and Photos Requested just in case. I will not miss that fashion statement at all!
• The next deadline for the I must say I am happy, and thankful, cases of COVID-19 are
SOAR in Action magazine will dwindling. However, I’m kind of sorry to see activities starting up
be July 9, and articles should be again. For over a year, I have gotten used to having no obligations.
emailed to the SOAR Director The squares on my kitchen calendar were empty for fifteen months.
Julie Stein at jstein@usw.org Now the little reminders of meetings and events are creeping into
many of the squares. Gone are the months with nothing to do but plan
• The deadline for the next what to have for supper and when to do laundry. Does this mean, that
publication of the SOAR after over a year, I will have to retire my comfy, knit pants and trusty
Chapter Connection newsletter tee shirt to the rag bag? Now I have to put on real clothes, do my hair,
is July 25 and items should be and wear lipstick? And go to a SOAR meeting. Sigh.
emailed to Charlie Averill at
soar3@icloud.com Elaine Averill
! PAGE 4
SOAR CHAPTER! MAY/JUNE 2021
Frequently Asked Questions About the Social Security Trust Funds
Q. What are the Social Security Trust Funds?
A. The Social Security Trust Funds are the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) and the Disability
Insurance (DI) Trust Funds. These funds are accounts managed by the Department of the Treasury. They serve two
purposes: (1) they provide an accounting mechanism for tracking all income to and disbursements from the trust
funds, and (2) they hold the accumulated asset reserves. These accumulated reserves provide automatic spending
authority to pay benefits. The Social Security Act limits trust fund expenditures to benefits and administrative
costs.
Benefits to retired workers and their families, and to families of deceased workers, are paid from the OASI
Trust Fund. Benefits to disabled workers and their families are paid from the DI Trust Fund. Benefit payments
accounted for more than 98 percent of the total cost of the combined OASI and DI funds in calendar year 2019.
A Board of Trustees oversees the financial operations of the trust funds. The Board reports annually to
Congress on the financial status of the trust funds.
Q. How are the trust funds invested?
A. By law, income to the trust funds must be invested, on a daily basis, in securities guaranteed as to both
principal and interest by the Federal government. All securities held by the trust funds are “special issues” of the
United States Treasury. Such securities are available only to the trust funds.
In the past, the trust funds have held marketable Treasury securities, which are available to the general
public. Unlike marketable securities, special issues can be redeemed at any time at face value. Marketable
securities are subject to the forces of the open market and may suffer a loss, or enjoy a gain, if sold before
maturity. Investment in special issues gives the trust funds the same flexibility as holding cash.
Data on trust fund investments provide a breakdown by interest rate and trust fund for any month after
1989.
Q. What interest rate do the trust funds’ invested assets earn?
A. The rate of interest on special issues is determined by a formula enacted in 1960. The rate is determined
at the end of each month and applies to new investments in the following month.
The numeric average of the 12 monthly interest rates for 2019 was 2.219 percent. The annual effective
interest rate (the average rate of return on all investments over a one-year period) for the OASI and DI Trust
Funds, combined, was 2.812 percent in 2019. This higher effective rate resulted because the funds hold special-
issue bonds acquired in past years when interest rates were higher.
Q. What happens to the taxes that go into the trust funds?
A. Tax income is deposited on a daily basis and is invested in “special-issue” securities. The cash exchanged
for the securities goes into the general fund of the Treasury and is indistinguishable from other cash in the general
fund.
Q. If all the income is invested, how do benefits get paid each month?
A. Money to cover program cost (mainly benefit payments) from the trust funds comes from the redemption
or sale of securities held by the trust funds. When “special-issue” securities are redeemed, interest is paid. In
fact, the principal amount of special issues redeemed, plus the corresponding interest, is just enough to cover
the required cost. Continued on page 6
! PAGE 5
SOAR CHAPTER! MAY/JUNE 2021
More Frequently Asked Questions
Q. What were the amounts of securities bought and sold during recent years?
A. The amount bought in 2019 was $1,234 billion, while the amount sold was $1,232 billion. See investment
transactions for more detail and earlier years.
Q. Why do some people describe the “special issue” securities held by the trust funds as worthless
IOUs? What is SSA’s reaction to this criticism?
A. Money flowing into the trust funds is invested in U. S. Government securities. Because the government
spends this borrowed cash, some people see the trust fund asset reserves as an accumulation of securities that the
government will be unable to make good on in the future. Without legislation to restore long-range solvency of
the trust funds, redemption of long-term securities prior to maturity would be necessary.
Far from being “worthless IOUs,” the investments held by the trust funds are backed by the full faith and
credit of the U. S. Government. The government has always repaid Social Security, with interest. The special-
issue securities are, therefore, just as safe as U.S. Savings Bonds or other financial instruments of the Federal
government.
Many options are being considered to restore long-range trust fund solvency. These options are being
considered now, well in advance of the year the trust fund reserves are likely to be depleted. It is thus likely that
legislation will be enacted to restore long-term solvency, making it unlikely that the trust funds’ securities will
need to be redeemed on a large scale prior to maturity.
Q. Can the Social Security Trust Funds remain solvent without making changes to the program?
A. In the annual Trustees Report, projections are made under three alternative sets of economic, demographic,
and programmatic assumptions. Under one of these sets (labeled “Low Cost”) the trust funds remain solvent for
the next 75 years. Under the other two sets (the “Intermediate” and “High Cost”), the trust fund reserves become
depleted within the next 20 years. The intermediate assumptions reflect the Trustees’ best estimate of future
experience.
Some benefits could be paid even if the trust fund reserves are depleted. For example, under the intermediate
assumptions, annual income to the trust funds is projected to equal about seventy-nine percent of program cost
once the trust fund reserves become depleted. If no legislation has been enacted to restore long-term solvency by
that time, about three-quarters of scheduled benefits could be paid in each year thereafter.
The Trustees believe that extensive public discussion and analysis of the long-range financing problems
of the Social Security program are essential in developing broad support for changes to restore the long-range
balance of the program.
Q. Were the asset reserves of the Social Security Trust Funds depleted in the past?
A. The reserves of the larger trust fund (OASI), from which retirement benefits are paid, were nearly depleted
in 1982. No beneficiary was shortchanged because Congress enacted temporary emergency legislation that
permitted borrowing from other Federal trust funds and then later enacted legislation to strengthen OASI Trust
Fund financing. The borrowed amounts were repaid with interest within four years.
Source: Social Security Administration website: www.ssa.gov
! PAGE 6
SOAR CHAPTER! MAY/JUNE 2021
“Let’s Get On With This”
President Joe Biden’s administration has managed to implement a $1.9 trillion
stimulus package to help offset the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the
anticipated crowning achievement of his brief tenure in the White House rests on
the passage of a robust infrastructure package.
Infrastructure spending is one of the few areas where both Democrats and
Republicans agree.
The debate between the political parties lies in the amount of revenue that should
be spent on a broad-range infrastructure package that is long-overdue in America.
The Alliance for American Manufacturing believes it is time to tackle a wide-range of infrastructure
improvements that will not only repair and rebuild roads and bridges, but will also upgrade schools, expand
access to high-speed broadband, address clean energy research, provide electric vehicle charging stations and
modernize America’s water systems, electrical grids, airports, seaports and other government facilities essential
to returning the United States to world dominance in public services.
The Biden administration has sent the GOP a $1.7 trillion proposal, which slashed $600 billion from the
President’s original plan. The Republican members of Congress initially put out a $568 billion infrastructure
framework but are expected to up the ante to $1 billion.
The final number of dollars to be invested is likely to become a compromise between the Biden team and
Republican lawmakers, but AAM believes the President should stick to his “Build Back Better” plan and fight
for the largest investment he can get.
President Biden’s infrastructure plan, if fully implemented, is estimated to create nearly 18 million quality jobs
in manufacturing and construction, many of them filled by union workers.
A larger investment in infrastructure is the best policy for the United Steelworkers. If the Republican
administration of Donald Trump was comfortable with the nearly $2 billion dollar tax cuts for corporations and
wealthy Americans, it certainly is time to support the hard-working USW members by investing in America’s
steel mills and aluminum manufacturers that will be supplying so much product to rebuild our infrastructure.
As U.S. Steel President and CEO Dave Burritt said: “Let’s get on with this.”
Jeff Bonior, Jeff is a staff writer for the Alliance for American Manufacturing
One Thing Most Of Us Can Agree On
When something needs repair around the house and home, the best thing to do is make the repair before more
and more begins to go wrong. Let’s see what the Congress will do about the country’s infrastructure.
Charlie
! PAGE 7
SOAR CHAPTER! MAY/JUNE 2021
Retirement Toolkit
The toolkit includes a list of publications and interactive tools to help in your planning, plus information on
how to contact the respective agency with your specific questions. It is important to start early and be well
informed so you can make timely decisions and, if necessary, make changes while you still have time before
retirement. The timeline below can help you plan for the kind of retirement you want.
Timeline for Retirement Planning
Choosing when to begin receiving Social Security benefits is an important part of deciding when to retire. If
you choose to start receiving benefits when you reach full retirement age, you will receive your full benefit. If
you delay claiming benefits beyond full retirement age, you can earn credits that increase your monthly benefit
by about eight percent for each year you delay claiming, up to age 70. If you start collecting Social Security
benefits before you reach full retirement age, your benefits will be reduced by up to 30 percent, depending on
when your benefits start.
Social Security’s full retirement age depends on the year in which you were born. If you were born between
1943 and 1954, your full retirement age is 66. If you were born between 1955 and 1959, your full retirement
age increases gradually until it reaches age 67 for those born in 1960 or later.
If you claim benefits before your full retirement age and continue to work, your income will be subject to the
retirement earnings test and your benefits could be reduced if your earnings exceed a certain limit. However,
once you reach full retirement age, your monthly benefit will be increased permanently to account for any
months in which benefits were reduced. The retirement earnings test no longer applies after you attain your full
retirement age and your benefit will not be reduced no matter how much you earn. Once you claim benefits,
your benefits will be adjusted annually to reflect the increase, if any, in the cost-of-living.
Continued on page 9
! PAGE 8
SOAR CHAPTER! MAY/JUNE 2021
Medicare Parts A & B
If you’re already getting Social Security benefits, you’ll automatically get Medicare Part A (Hospital Insurance)
and Medicare Part B (Medical Insurance) starting the first day of the month you turn 65. If your 65th birthday is
on the first day of the month, Part A and Part B will start the first day of the prior month. Medicare will mail
you a Medicare card and general information before the date you become eligible.
People under 65 with certain disabilities who’ve been entitled to Social Security disability benefits for 24
months are enrolled in Medicare automatically. People of any age who have End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD),
also qualify for Medicare, but must file an application to enroll.
In most cases, you usually don’t pay a monthly premium for Part A coverage if you or your spouse paid
Medicare taxes while working. However, Medicare Part B is a voluntary program that will normally require you
to pay a monthly premium. If you don’t want to keep Part B, you must follow the directions when you get your
Medicare card to let Medicare know you don’t want it. Otherwise, keep your card and you’ll be charged the Part
B premium.
If you aren’t receiving Social Security benefits by age 65 and you want to enroll in Medicare, you should
contact Social Security and sign up during your Initial Enrollment Period. In most cases, this is the seven-month
period that starts three months before the month you turn 65, includes the month you turn 65, and ends three
months after the month you turn 65.
Important: In most cases, if you don’t sign up for Medicare Part B when you’re first eligible, you may have to
pay a late enrollment penalty for as long as you have Medicare coverage.
If you’re covered under a group health plan based on your or your spouse’s current employment, you should
contact your employer benefits administrator to see if it might be best to postpone Part B enrollment until you
or your spouse retires. This decision will depend on how your insurance works with Medicare. Once your
employment ends, you’ll have an eight-month Special Enrollment Period in which to sign up for Part B. You
won’t have to pay a penalty if you sign up during this period.
Note: These eligibility rules are general and apply to people who are nearing their 65th birthday. Visit
Medicare’s website to learn about eligibility rules for other situations.
Source: Retirement Toolkit from Dept of Labor website: www.dol.gov
Memorial Day Tribute
“The Steelworkers Organization of Active Retirees honor and
remember the heroes who have selflessly given their courage and
lives to serve our nation. We appreciate your patriotism and will not
forget you.”
! PAGE 9
SOAR CHAPTER! MAY/JUNE 2021
Congress Must Finally Take on the Powerful Drug Corporations
by Robert Roach, Jr.
Americans continue to pay the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs, and
the costs are going up every year. Seniors are bearing the brunt of this because they
need more medicines to stay healthy. Even during the pandemic, drug corporations
have raised their prices, and profits are soaring.
The Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act, H.R. 3, is one House bill that
would provide critical protection against skyrocketing prices.
H.R. 3 repeals current law that prohibits the federal government from negotiating lower
drug prices. It requires that the Secretary of Health and Human Services negotiate on up
to 250 of the most expensive drugs, including insulin. The negotiated amount would be available to all payers,
allowing workers covered by employer-sponsored plans to also benefit from the price reductions.
Another House bill that would protect us from exorbitant drug prices is the Pandemic Treatment Access and
Affordability (PTAA) Act, H.R. 597.
American taxpayers spend tens of billions of dollars on research and development for vaccines and treatments
for COVID-19, including $23 billion for manufacturing and purchasing. Despite this public investment, there is
no guarantee that these taxpayer-funded drugs will be affordable, accessible, or available to all who need them.
H.R. 597 gives Congress the power to block drug corporations' monopoly control over prices. It assures access
to COVID-19 drugs for all who need them, ensures affordability, provides greater transparency, and prevents
price gouging in any future health emergencies.
Congress needs to take action to control the exponentially increasing prices of drugs by passing both of these
bills. Then we can finally move forward on what has been a top Alliance for Retired Americans priority for two
decades.
Robert Roach, Jr. is president of the Alliance for Retired Americans. He was previously General Secretary-
Treasurer of the IAMAW. For more information, visit www.retiredamericans.org.
Relax before bedtime: Do something quiet and
calming–take a bath, listen to classical music, read a
book.
Elaine
! PAGE 10SOAR CHAPTER! MAY/JUNE 2021
America’s Thirst
By Tom Conway
USW International President
Simon and Barbara Hale dropped a small fortune on bottled water, battled
rust-stained laundry and endured slimy showers before discovering the water
from their well didn’t just taste, smell and feel awful but actually endangered
their health.
The Vietnam veteran and his wife
couldn’t afford the huge expense of
connecting to the local water
system, however, so about a dozen
volunteers from United Steelworkers (USW) Local 12160 dug a
trench, tapped the main and ran a service line into the couple’s home.
“It’s life-changing,” Barbara Hale said of the free work by the USW
members, all of whom work at South Central Connecticut Regional
Water Authority, noting she and her husband have clean, palatable
Domenic DeDomenicco and Simon Hale
water for the first time in years. “I just feel safe because we know
there’s no question about what’s in it.”
President Joe Biden’s infrastructure program would deliver the same security to millions of other Americans
thirsting for one of life’s basic necessities.
Among many other projects in his $2 trillion American Jobs Plan, Biden
proposed about $110 billion in long-overdue upgrades to the nation’s
patchwork of foundering water systems. The unprecedented investment will
not only make life more convenient for consumers but protect their health and
build stronger communities.
“It’s definitely time for somebody to take action,” said Local 12160 President
Domenic DeDomenico, a water treatment operator at the authority who heard
about the Hales’ plight and mustered the crew of Steelworkers who saved the
Local 12160 Volunteers
couple thousands of dollars in connection costs.
DeDomenico and his authority co-workers proudly supply about 430,000
people via 1,700 miles of pipes in 15 municipalities. They treat, test and monitor the supply around the clock,
distributing, on average, more than 42 million gallons of “perfect” water every day. Many Americans long for
that high level of quality and dependability right now.
In the authority’s own service area, for example, are residents who still lack access to public mains as well as
the financial resources to connect to them. “Can you do that for us?” some of the Hales’ wistful neighbors asked
the volunteers.
Across the country, ramshackle and disintegrating infrastructure delivers mere dribs and drabs of the clean, safe
water Americans need every day. Some families drink foul-tasting, smelly well water, like the Hales did before
a recent test revealed traces of oil and other contaminants that required an urgent switch to the public water
system.
! PAGE 11SOAR CHAPTER! MAY/JUNE 2021
Others travel dozens of miles to collect potable water each day because they live in areas with low water tables
or because sewage or other pollutants foul the same streams or pipes used to source drinking supplies. Because
of water quality and related problems in McDowell County, W.Va., for example, one local food bank
experiences greater demand for bottled water than any other item.
Some Americans live in low-density areas that no water authorities serve.
Yet residents in urban areas fare just as poorly. Lead and other contaminants taint the drinking water in many
cities, where decades of neglect rendered aging systems vulnerable to breaks and security breaches.
The American Society of Civil Engineers recently gave the nation’s water systems a C- grade, noting the
combined 2.2 million miles of pipes are so old that they average a leak every two minutes and waste about six
billion gallons of treated water every day. Without adequate funding, water authorities struggle to maintain their
existing lines, let alone extend service to new customers.
“We’re just replacing what they have because they’re losing so much water,” explained
USW Local 14614 President Ron Brady, whose membership includes hundreds of
construction workers in West Virginia.
Brady has seen communities’ water supplies vanish when landslides knocked out
precariously positioned pipes. He’s witnessed water lines so old they’re made of wood
and function like barrel-shaped sluices.
And he knows residents whose well water stains their bathtubs and clothes and who
yearn for public water partly so they can get the more affordable insurance that comes
from having fire hydrants nearby. There’s no reason to tolerate any of this.
The Senate recently passed a bipartisan bill earmarking $35 billion for water system
Local 14614 improvements. But that’s just a small fraction of what’s needed.
President
Ron Brady Congressional approval of Biden’s American Jobs Plan would provide the
comprehensive funding necessary for top-to-bottom water infrastructure upgrades. That
includes removing all lead-tainted pipes, replacing leaky mains, upgrading treatment
plants and extending service to areas currently without it.
Upgrading water infrastructure would make Americans healthier while delivering a major boost to the
economy.
Biden’s plan would provide family-sustaining jobs to construction workers, including Brady’s members, and
ensure work for Americans who produce steel, aluminum, valves, pipes and other materials needed to construct
and operate water systems. Modernization would prevent the water disruptions and quality problems that
imperil billions in economic activity—at restaurants, hotels, factories and other businesses—every year.
And Biden’s plan would promote a more equitable distribution of America’s resources. Right now, the lack of
access to safe water disproportionately affects the poor, the disabled and elderly Americans like Simon Hale,
who broke both ankles in Vietnam, and his wife, who uses a wheelchair.
Using equipment provided by the water authority, DeDomenico and his co-workers needed only several hours
to hook up the couple’s water and drastically improve their quality of life. The crew even reseeded the Hales’
lawn, removing all traces of construction work, before leaving.
“It was a pleasure, obviously,” DeDomenico said of meeting Simon Hale. “He served our country.”
! PAGE 12You can also read
